Caafi Health

Written By The Caafi Team

What we want is for each of us to thrive and achieve our dreams, for our communities to grow and support us and our loved ones in our achievements.

What a community needs is for YOU to be in the best shape you can be so that you can show up, engage with life, create connections with others, and share the very best version of yourself possible – oh so cliched yet oh so true!

Sounds simple – but it can seem difficult to prioritise our holistic health with so many different demands on our time and energy.

We want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to access quality health and wellbeing support - to help everyone thrive - so we are bringing our community clinics to You.

Your Community Health Clinics Caafi Health has been running community health clinics in St Pauls, Easton, and Barton Hill, since the beginning of May and will continue to do so until the 12th October. We are offering people an opportunity to come and get quality health information and health checks in a relaxed, non-judgemental way - where conversation and tea (or coffee if that’s your jam) flow freely, where no-one is in a rush, and where you can talk about the many different aspects of your life that make you ‘You’. We all need that bit of time and focused attention, and when we are feeling a bit physically or mentally out-of-sorts and wobbly, that time and attention from other people who can guide us towards ways in which we can help ourselves, is even more important.

But don’t just think that you have to wait until you are feeling low, or life is getting tricky – come and see us and discuss how you can make a good lifestyle even better. It’s not about ‘lifehacks’ and shortcuts, it's about living a life that you truly enjoy.

What Are They Like? At the sessions we will talk with you about your wellbeing holistically and look at your physical and mental/emotional health to see if there are things that need changing or sessions we can help you access that will improve how you see the quality of your life.

There is no judgement here, no prescribed way to live. We will listen to you and chat and find out what might work. And every one of us can keep moving our lives into progressively better places – a multitude of different services in Bristol is set up to do exactly that.

A focus on you and your community

Do you like to walk with others? Would a set of Nordic Walking sessions help you to feel less isolated and more fit? Well, we can refer you to Lets Walk Bristol for that! Or maybe Steppin’ Sistas is right for you.

What about some wild swimming sessions? Or some outdoor yoga? Would that help give you a feeling of exhilaration and energy from the cold water, or peace and relaxation from the yoga? Well, let’s refer you to Open Mind Active and you can see how you feel after a taster session.

The very individual nature of these conversations mean that we will offer you all sorts of different options. Some people might be ok with travelling to get to an art session while another person only wants to do things near home. Between us we can explore these options and find something that is right for you.

The community clinics are also places to get advice on managing any ongoing conditions you might have. Perhaps you want to talk about your diabetes and are looking for information about eating healthier?

Or get specific information from one of our specialist partners. There are certain days when we have additional service providers attending the sessions – if you want to check these out we have the dates up on our website. You can come and chat to Brigstow Diabetes Peer Support, or the Terence Higgins Trust/ Unity Sexual Health staff or anyone else we have arranged to attend.

And not every bit of advice we give is about stopping doing things! We are seriously not out to be the fun police – we like to reflect on what is going well, what is working in people’s lives and help them to do more of those things … as well as supporting the doing less of the damaging (yes, tobacco/vaping/ junk food I’m talking to you!) things.

Just Drop In Come along to a clinic and let’s see what we can find out together to improve your health. It’s a collaborative effort and we always appreciate you showing up for yourself. You don’t need to make an appointment – just drop in and chat!

We hope to see you really soon.

Caafi Health #TeamCaafiHealth Thoughts For Better Wellbeing:

• Stay Active – Do at least 15mins of walking, skipping, dancing, or playing football: doing it with your kids is optional! - Marta

• Prevention is truly better than cure – so come to the health clinics and keep yourself in the best shape possible! Asha

• Health is a crown on healthy people’s head – and we want to see everyone wearing those crowns. You are all Queens/Kings/Royalty, right! – Dr Nesrien

• To be healthy you must care for your body and mind as a whole – getting advice and support that keeps the whole working together is smart and you will never regret it! – Suad

• Our health does not start in the hospital – it starts at home, in the family, at school, and in our communities. It starts right here, right now because there is always something we can do to care for our bodies and minds even better – Theo

• Care for yourself the best way possible, get advice before you think you ‘need’ it, remember that body and mind are One, and not only will you benefit but your children will see this and learn that great physical, mental, emotional, and social/spiritual health is their right – Rae

Basic Health Tips

• Exercise for 15mins daily – more when possible. • Eat less fats/carbs/sugars and eat more pulses/fruit/vegetables. • Reduce red meat consumption. • Get out into any green spaces for minimum 15mins each day. • Give yourself time for ‘Being’ instead of always ‘Doing’. • If you are worried about any aspect of your life and health, get support. • Come to the Caafi Health Community